Problem is seen in the seating

This is a copy/paste of an article I wrote for the Joondalup Weekender newspaper that was published on 13 June 2013.

THE WA Government recently released formal plans for the stadium to be built in Burswood and it appears that the planners of this stadium are taking the “if you build it, they will come” approach.

This line, from the movie Field of Dreams, suggests that the Barnett State Government just wants a stadium built that will easily host AFL and cricket matches.

However, the reality is that fans of rectangular field sports, such as soccer and rugby, will continue to have the same poor sightlines that the Subiaco stadium offers.

It is surprising that the new Burswood stadium will not have retractable seating, similar to Melbourne’s Docklands stadium that makes watching rectangular field sport more appealing. I made the mistake of attending the Wallabies versus Springboks match at Subiaco last year and could hardly see the action.

Viewing soccer or rugby matches at the Docklands arena is a much more pleasant experience compared to the Subiaco stadium.

The first tier of seats can be brought forward to enable seating close to the action and, naturally, justify the cost of higher category seating.

The Burswood stadium’s measurements, announced on May 7, indicate that its dimensions will be smaller than Subiaco’s in a nod towards housing rectangular sports more effectively.

However, there will still be significant space between the edge of the field and the first row of grandstand seating.

Is this move just a token gesture?

It remains to be seen if the WA Government will spend the extra money to build retractable seating, which will attract top-level sporting events to Perth and fans to the stadium.

Only time will tell if the “if you build it, they will come” analogy will turn out to be true.

Welcome to my site

Join me on my journey through my research career and sharing my publishing stories. At current, I live in Canberra, Australia's capital city.. This blog will feature posts of my research, teaching, my life in a foreign country (Australia) and other musings on all things that come to mind.

BIO
Dr Olan Scott is an assistant professor in sport management at University of Canberra. My research into sport media particularly focuses on the mainstream media and fan engagement in social media.
I am heavily involved in industry-focused research including social media marketing, fan development, strategic planning, and brand-awareness market research

SUMMARY
Sport and the love of sport are among the defining characteristics of Australia and its people and it’s a multi-billion dollar industry to boot.
I delve into the complex point where these two factors meet, in the media and how sport is presented to its audience. My investigation examines how events are framed by the media for audience interpretation. In addition, I also research the use of social media, leading projects involved in social media marketing for professional sports teams.
My research provides a greater understanding of the way sports governing bodies, teams and players interact with the paying public to build their loyalty base. Understanding and improving the way the industry approaches and engages with fans offers sports an opportunity to improve its positive societal role.